Improved process for making twisted gun-barrels



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS WARNER, OF OHIOOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MAKlNG TWISTED GUN-BARRELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,999, dated September6,1853.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WARNER, of Ohicopee, in the county of Hampdenand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Twisted Barrels for Guns and other Fire-Arms, and in the Process ofMaking the Same; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof.

What are called twisted barrels, as heretot'ore made, consist of aribbon or ribbons, of iron or steel, or both, wound on a mandrel in ahelix, and then welded at the seams. This mode of procedure is attendedwith great labor, and unless great care be observed to effeet a thoroughwelding of the seam along the entire length of the helical line formingthe lap the barrel is liable to burst. The fibers of the metal in suchbarrels must of necessity be parallel along the entire line of thehelix.

The object of my invention is to produce a barrel which for agivenweightof metal shall present greater strength to resist the explosiveforce of gunpowder, and which shall avoid the liability ofimperfectseams along the entire length; and to this end the first partof my invention, which relates to a new manufacture, consists oftwistedbarrels for fire-arms with the fibers of the metal twisted from theinside to the outer circumference by a gradually-increased twist, thehelices formed by all the fibers having the same pitch, and eachsuccessive fiber toward the outer circumference forming a greater anglewith the axis, so that the successive layers of fibers cross each other,and thus tend to give tenacity to the mass; and the second part of myinvention, which relates to the process of making twisted barrels inaccordance with the first part otmy invention, consists in twisting abar of metal of the required size while in a heated state, and thenboring out the caliber.

The mode of procedure which I have tried with success is to take a barof iron of suitable quality and size, and after it has been sutficientlyand equally heated twisting it in the manner of twisting a strand ofrope until the required twist has been given. I then upset it endwise tocompact the mass. After being thus treated it is bored out to therequired caliber, and the outside properly shaped and finished in anysuitable manner.

I do not deem it necessary to describe any particular kind of machineryfor giving the twist to the bar or for boring out the caliber or givingthe required form and finish to the outside, as these are matters wellknown to those skilled in the art of working metals and makingfire-arms, and these operations may be performed in any suitable mannerat the discretion of the operator.

Barrels on my improved plan can be made of iron'or steel, or of bothmixed.

It'desired, the barrel can be bored entirely through and a breech-pinthen inserted in the usual manner; or the breech can be formed in thesolid by simply boring the caliber to the required depth.

1 do not wish to limit myself to any particular size of barrel, and mynew manufacture and mode of procedure are applicable to any sizeofbarrel which can be made out of a bar that will admit of being twistedwhen properly heated. In the making of large barrels the bar may beheated and twisted in successive portions of the length, or in sectionsand the sections afterward welded together.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. A new manufacture of gun-barrels made out ofa sold bar with thefibers of the metal having agradually-increascd twist from the inside tothe outside, substantially as specified.

2. Making twisted barrels by twistingabar of metal of the required sizewhen in a heated state, and then boring out the caliber, substantiallyin the manner and for the purpose specified.

ALEX. PORTER BROWN, CHAS. N. BAMBURGH.

